Fredonia alum Marc Svaty made two family choices in the last several years that has reshaped the Yellow Jacket football program.
Svaty and his wife have a three-year-old daughter. Two-plus years ago, the Svaty family decided to take in Isaac McPherson when he encountered some tough times.
McPherson, whose twin brother, Isaiah, plays football for Labette County, was at Parsons with Svaty. He coached two seasons at Parsons and helped end a 19-game losing streak. Coach calls the running back a son.
This winter, Svaty decided to return home to Fredonia and tend to his family, especially his father, who is in declining health with Alzheimer’s. Both families live in the same house, which allows for continued care and time for Svaty’s father.
“Going back to the Parsons job, I put in a lot of time and effort into that job,” Svaty said. “I was very dedicated. We were just getting ready to turn the corner there. It was a very difficult decision to come over to Fredonia at the time. I felt like between the family obligations and opportunities, and the professional opportunities, this was just the best thing for me and my family at the time.”
The decisions have helped Fredonia open 7-1, 2-0 in Class 3A, District 8. The Yellow Jackets will play at traditional powerhouse Caney Valley (6-2, 2-0) for the district and Tri-Valley League title.
Fredonia has clinched its first playoff berth since 2006. It’s already the most wins for the program since a 7-4 mark in ’06. Svaty said Fredonia has not won the TVL since ’98. Caney Valley, on a streak of 13 straight winning seasons, has won nine in a row versus Fredonia.
The Bullpups have made the playoffs every year since ’09 behind Criss Davis, in his 31st year at the school and second stint as head coach. Davis is one three sons, all involved with teaching/coaching, of former Sedan Hall of Fame coach Les Davis.
“Pretty much blue collar,” Davis said. “And we work hard, and try to do things the right way.”
Caney Valley operates out of the wishbone and has tallied an average score of 35-13. Last season, the Bullpups had a rare down season and finished 5-5 with an average score of 29-23. Defensive tackles Matt Adams and Sid Smith anchor the defensive improvement, especially in the run game.
“Both of those guys have really stepped up really big up front,” Davis said of the line.
Junior linebacker Bryce Warfield leads the team with 47 tackles. Warfield, the left guard, is the lone offensive lineman who starts on defense, which allows the Bullpups plenty of depth.
“That’s a plus for us,” Davis said. “I think we are fresher, I think we can go harder.”
Warfield is one of two returning starters on the offensive line. The defensive backs include two-way junior starter Baylor Melchiori, and plenty of youth, including three new starters. Junior Ben Thornton is at quarterback, along junior Cole Griffin and sophomore Grant Richey in the backfield.
“On both sides of the football, we had a lot of growing pains to get through knowing that we were going to have a lot of young kids playing this year,” Davis said.
All three running backs have cleared 100 yards in a game this season and read their blocks well.
Caney opened with losses against Independence and Olpe before six straight wins. The Bullpups have been very healthy all season. Just two key players have missed one game, both with an ankle injury, and the team is healthy for Thursday.
“Grant has been a real pleasant surprise this season,” Davis said. “Him and Cole both had great summers in the weight room, and made great strides for us.”
Despite four fumbles, the Yellow Jackets defeated Cherryvale in Week 4 and Neodesha in Week 7 to open district play. Svaty labeled both victories program-defining wins.
“Tomorrow’s game is one of the biggest games that Fredonia has been involved with in a long time, and quite honestly, probably one of the biggest games I’ve been involved with as either a player or as a coach,” Svaty, 44-48 as a head coach, said.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound McPherson is Kansas’ second-leading rusher with 1,837 yards, just 34 behind Mission Valley’s Clay Phillips.
“I was expecting a nice season, but not the season that we are getting out of him right now,” Svaty said. “I would have never guessed that he was somebody that was going to be more than a 15-carry a game guy, and now, he is an old-time I-(formation) type guy where he needs the ball between 25 and 40 times a game. He’s just got a knack for running right now. He is very athletic, very elusive, very powerful.”
His brother, Isaiah, ranks 12th in Kansas with 1,291 rushing yards, according to Kansas-Sports.com. Fredonia lost its season opener by 37 points to his brother’s Labette County team before defeating a struggling Douglass program, 74-58.
“He had some performances early this year that really gave us an opportunity to make mistakes and still be able to win some football games,” Svaty said. “As we have gotten into the season here, we have gotten a lot of our other kids to really step up and play a nice role.”
When Svaty first took over, he noticed Fredonia had just 17 players back. Six new defensive starters didn’t play high school football last season. They’ve helped the Yellow Jackets allow just 21 points per contest in the 4-2-5 look. Junior Steven Conrady, one of the six, and senior Devin Voth, a returning starter, lead the team in tackles.
Last spring, Svaty first believed Fredonia was going to be “multiple-year rebuilding job,” because of the lack of depth. Svaty had been through two rebuilding programs and didn’t know if he wanted another one. The coaching staff includes Roger Thurlow, who previously coached Ingalls girls’ basketball for the last decade, won a state title and finished third last winter.
Svaty asked Thurlow, now the Fredonia girls’ coach, to join his staff on multiple occasions. Thurlow said no several times but when Svaty really needed a coach late, Thurlow came aboard.
“We did a really good job in the spring of last year recruiting kids and starting to build the staff – building the staff took a long time – and I got some positive responses from some kids that didn’t play football last year during the summer, and leading into the season this year, I had higher expectations than what I had in the spring,” Svaty said.
Fredonia’s quick-paced, no-huddle, spread offense has averaged 41 points per game, nearly double the 22 per contest in a 5-4 season last fall. Senior Carter O’Dell, mainly a wide receiver last season, has moved to quarterback and passed for 1,003 yards.
Senior Kaden Unruh has switched from quarterback to wide receiver and caught seven touchdowns for nearly 500 yards. Senior Devin Voth is a multi-purpose threat, and senior Elijah Lorentz, who didn’t play football last year, has been a key player on both sides.
“One of the first things I noticed about our kids is I was very surprised earlier this summer with how well our kids could throw and catch,” Svaty said. “And anytime you have that dynamic, you know you have the opportunity to be able to move the football.”
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